Tanzanian official visits Genocide memorial

Reading about the genocide makes one sympathise with Rwanda, but visiting the memorial sites makes one empathise and understand what Rwandans really went through during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Wilson C. Mukama, the Secretary General of Tanzania’s ruling party, Chama cha mapenduzi, said yesterday.He had just toured the genocide memorial centre at Gisozi, ahead of the 18th Commemoration of the genocide.“I must say that sometimes it is difficult to understand or contextualise the genocide. Just here at the memorial we were told that 259,000 men, women and children were laid to rest in mass graves; imagining how many more were mercilessly killed is depressing,” Mukama said.“No book or video says it the way it actually was; it may be hard to forget but Rwanda must move along the journey of development it has decided, to forgive and reconcile.”He also advised East African countries against divisionist politics saying that it only serves to destroy nations.“I pray to God that my country Tanzania never experiences what Rwanda did. We should all never succumb to the politics of hate, retribution or ethnic cleansing. We must engage in rebuilding our States, put our differences aside, improve democracy and help our countries develop, differences aside,” he said.At Gisozi, Mukama was accompanied by Aloisea Inyumba, Rwanda’s minister of Gender and Family Promotion, and Francois Ngarambe, Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) Secretary General.

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Tanzanian official visits Genocide memorial